I have been somewhat shocked at the information I have learned after reading A Russian Orphanage Offers Love and Care, but Few Ways Out from the New York Times written by Clifford J. Levy. I know somebody who adopted their daughter from Russia over ten years ago, and although I was quite a bit younger then and not quite as in tune to the details I am now, I remember them talking about their adoption experience. They said that their daughter, who was under one when they adopted her, had always been kept in a crib. The adoption agency told them that she may never walk. Once they actually brought her home and gave her individualized attention, she started walking and fastly progressing.
So, although I had an idea that the orphanages in Russia were not the most ideal, I had no idea that, according to Boris L. Altshuler, chairmain of Right of the Child, an advocacy group in Moscow, that "the system wants these children to remain orphans." It is so sad to me that these children, who deserve loving families and individualized attention, are not able to obtain this valued experience because of, basically, the economy. The orphanges in Russia create jobs and income for people and therefore, the country. The orphanges may take good care of these young children, but they don't get to grow up there forever, only until they reach a certain age where they must move on to their next orphanage or foster home.
The responsibility, it seems, not only needs to be addressed of the government or system, but the people themselves. It is horrible to think that this all stems from, among others, poor family life involving drug and alcohol abuse. Can we, as people, not be responsible enough to even keep our own children?
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I think its awesome that you know someone who has experienced what you are researching. Few questions though, What made you do the orphanages in Russia? Is American orphanages a lot better? Why do they want them to remain in the orphanages instead of going to homes?
ReplyDeleteI have actually broadened my topic to just international adoptions. I started out with Russian orphanages because it was my original article of choice. This article claimed that they remained in orphanages because their economy relied on the jobs that supported these children. However, there have been other sources, not necessarily related to Russian orphanages in particular, that imply that they cannot get the orphans out fast enough who have psychological disadvantes because nobody wants to adopt them.
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